DRENCHED

I can’t remember the last time it rained all day, virtually without let-up.  I put my walk off as long as possible, but when I got home from work, and the rain was only coming harder, I decided there was no time like the present.

With my mother’s words (“You’re going to catch your death of pneumonia”) ringing in my ears, I put on my heaviest sweater, a hoodie, gloves and my favorite wrap-around scarf.  It was 45 degrees and the rain made it so much colder.  I left Banks at home, because not only did I not want to deal with the mud he’d track in, I didn’t want that wet dog smell lingering for days. 

After about half an hour, the hoodie over my head made me feel constricted, like it was pulling my head into my neck.  It was probably my imagination, but I was beginning to imagine a cramp developing in my neck, so I just pushed it off and let my hair get soaked. 

I walked the perimeter of both Stacy parks, twice, because I figured I’d get at least some tree coverage.  The creeks, which just last week were little more than a trickle, were roiling, reminiscent of the “Chocolate Milk River” I remember from my small home town. 

For the first half, I could just barely avoid the puddles and the runoff coming down the streets; on the way back, it was a lost cause.  There were places where there was no choice but to step directly into a puddle or let the water rushing down the hills wash over my feet.  I started getting a backache, and realized that my soaking wet sweater and hoodie probably had gained ten pounds of water weight.  Suddenly my uncomfortable hoodie made sense; it was the first thing to get saturated, and that extra weight WAS putting a strain on my neck.

The occasional thunder didn’t bother me, and I only felt like a crazy woman when the rare flash of lightening lit up the sky.  Actually, I never felt unsafe; it was the kind of lightening that lightens the sky, not those terrifying bolts.

You know what?  Never once did I feel sorry for myself, or resentful or even put-upon.  The greatest enemy to a project like this is sameness and boredom, and this definitely shook things up.  I had fun! The reward is how I feel now – shed of my wet clothing, sitting on the sofa with my laptop on my lap, and a cup of Darjeeling tea at my side.  Tomorrow there is a 100 percent chance of rain, but since I don’t have to work, I should find a window of less treacherous weather.